Bec tilted her head to one side. She looked at Sally for a second before her gaze settled on her tummy region.
‘You’re not…’ she said with a blossoming smile. ‘Are you?’
Sally waggled her eyebrows and grinned.
‘Maybe.’
Both Tash and Bec squealed with delight as they both hugged her. Davey watched his wife being smothered, rolled his eyes and stood up.
‘I’ve got an announcement,’ he said as he tapped his glass with the nearest knife. ‘That is to say we’ve got an announcement, but as you can see my wife’s not very good at keeping secrets from her best friends.’
The rest of the table turned to see Sally, Tash and Bec hugging and happy-crying.
‘Actually, I’m amazed that she managed to keep it a secret this long.’ Davey continued. ‘Most of you know that we’ve been trying for a baby for several years and, well, nothing. That is until now…We’re going to have a baby.’
***
Nick didn’t know what to expect at Matt’s birthday. He kept telling himself that it was only dinner and not to make such a big thing out of it. And while his courage had almost failed before Freddy had dragged his arse inside, the fact was that he was there, and that counted, didn’t it?
As he’d walked through to the large table out the back, he’d spied Tash Duroz. There was something about her that had always made Nick feel as if he wasn’t a two-headed idiot talking gibberish. She was kind to him, she always had been ever since…Well, for a long time. She would give him a smile every time he went into the bakery and try to start a conversation. And she always give him an extra bun or muffin along with his purchase.
She had pretty, dark hair that was generally pulled into a ponytail, but tonight it hung like soft brown silk to her shoulders. Maybe he was just imagining it but there was always the faint scent of cinnamon around her. She was sweet, just like the luscious wares from her bakery. Tash was calm and had the ability to make him feel at ease. Nick appreciated it as there weren’t too many people who didn’t make him feel like an outsider.
There was an empty chair next to Tash and he wondered if she’d mind if he took it. He had been walking in that direction when Freddy clapped him around the shoulder and said he should sit next to him.
Nick was grateful for the thoughtfulness of his poker buddy, but a flicker of disappointment flared through him at the thought of not talking to Tash, which was probably stupid. Just because the woman had been nice to him didn’t mean she’d want his sorry arse sitting next to her for dinner. Directly across the table from him was Matt’s sister, Jules.
‘Hey, how are you going, Nick? Glad you could make it,’ she said with a smile.
‘Thanks, Jules. How’s uni?’
‘Good, exams are coming up soon. I’m this close to getting my teaching degree.’ She held up her thumb and forefinger, which were almost touching.
‘Matt said you’ve worked really hard.’
‘I have. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, but I suppose I had something to prove as well.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘My parents—well, Dad—really wanted to push me in another direction. For his sake, I gave it a year or so, but my heart was never in it.’
‘But he’s okay with you being a teacher now?’
Jules shrugged.
‘Not really, but he’s learning to accept it. He got me a job that had a great pathway into management. It was in the finance department of a marketing company. The money was pretty good too, but I swear after three months I was bored out of my brain. One day at my desk I had an epiphany—if I was going to drag myself out of bed each morning for the next forty years then it had better be for something I love.’
Nick nodded, smiling.
‘That makes sense.’
‘Yeah, well, Dad didn’t see it that way. Both his children had decent and reliable jobs with great promotional pathways and they both chucked them in for…Um, what was the word he used?’
Jules nudged her brother sitting next to her.
‘Word for what?’ Matt asked.
‘What Dad said when I threw in the most boring job in the universe to go to uni?’
‘Ah, that was probably the same sort of thing Dad said to me when I left advertising to be a writer.’ Matt grinned. ‘It was more of a collection of words, actually—irresponsibility and creativity go hand in hand. It’s a hobby not a job. Writing is something you do to amuse yourself at 3 am. It’s when you’ve had too much red wine and are under the sad delusion that your words matter. How can you believe scribbling will ever provide a decent future for you, let alone one for a family? I never thought of you as self-indulgent, Matthew, but obviously you are…’
‘Ouch! Seriously?’ Jules said. ‘And you remember all that?’
‘Yep. What can I say? It sort of burned its way into my mind. I always thought it rolled particularly well off his tongue. In fact, I suggested he should take up a creative writing course.’
‘You didn’t.’
‘Of course I did! Remember those few weeks when he didn’t talk to me? That was why.’
Jules shook her head.
‘Well, my lecture wasn’t half as flowery. He wanted to know, after he’d spent so long calling in favours with old friends and found me the perfect position, why I would give that up to teach children and wipe their snotty little noses?’
‘I think with Dad that you have to succeed in what you do,’ said Matt. ‘It’s the only way he will ever come around. He has with me to a point and he will when he sees what a brilliant teacher Jules will become.’
‘You know he has to say that because he’s my brother?’ Jules said, before turning to Matt and giving him a wink. ‘I’ll pay you later, alright.’
Nick laughed. He was enjoying himself.
Chapter 6
‘I’m glad to hear that you’re finally getting out and about.’
Nick held back a sigh. God, this was hard.
‘Thanks Peter.’
He stepped outside the caravan, clutching the phone to his ear, in need of some air. Talking to Peter always made him feel hemmed in. That was wrong, wasn’t it?
‘I really mean it. And it’s what Sophie would have wanted. It’s not healthy sitting up there, year in and year out, all by yourself. You need some human contact.’
‘Hey, I’m not by myself—I have Tabitha.’
Peter chuckled.
‘Cats don’t count.’
‘Tell that to Tabitha.’
‘So when are you going to come by our place?’
Nick ran his hand through his hair.
‘It’s hard…’
There was a pause at the other end of the phone.
‘We’d all love to see you. You know that, don’t you? Anyway, I’ll just keep inviting you until you come. Just don’t forget about us, Nick.’
‘That’s never going to happen. Thanks for calling, Peter.’
Nick stuffed the phone back into his pocket. Part of him was thankful that Sophie’s brother rang every few weeks to see how he was going, but the other part…Well, that was the side of him that still wanted to forget everything that had happened. Perhaps that was wrong. A wave of guilt washed over him. He had no right wishing to forget Sophie and everything they had together.
Nick stared towards the shell of the long-abandoned house. He would never forget—he’d lost too much. Peter may not agree, but Nick wasn’t sure he deserved to start a new life.
***
Tash flipped the sign on the front door over to Closed and snibbed the lock. She had barely had time to catch her breath since stepping on to the shop floor and couldn’t wait to get back to her little cottage.
The dinner at Matt’s place was still playing on her mind. Perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, she should have handled it better. Yes, she’d been tired and the whole seating thing had been disappointing, but that shouldn’t have been an excuse to give up and go home.
Tash scanned th
e bakery once more before she flipped off the lights and let herself out the back door. Her old miner’s cottage was about a two-minute walk away, down a narrow street called Titch Lane. The cottage sat right on the edge of the street, with the only thing separating it from the road being a skinny strip of garden filled with lavender bushes and two stone steps that led to the verandah. The cottage still had its original Victorian ceiling and dainty fireplace, but it had been renovated throughout. It now included a small but functional kitchen with a marble topped island; she’d kept the decor light and tried to invoke a French Provincial vibe to harmonize with the cottage. She was pleased with the result but the bathroom revamp was spectacular. The bathroom had gone from dated and a little on the sad side to something that looked as if it belonged on the pages of a stylish home magazine. Tash loved everything about the cottage but maybe her favourite part was being able to soak in her big claw-footed bath tub.
The magic of the cottage wasn’t the humble exterior that faced the lane or its interior or even the bath tub, but the wonderful garden that sprawled behind it. The cottage sat on a large block and was filled with not only Tash’s extensive herb collection but also crabapples, lemons, peaches and blood plums. There was an old glasshouse towards the back fence. Last winter, Tash had spent a couple of weekends fixing it up, and this winter she intended to finally make use of it.
There was a narrow slate path that arced from the back door, through the garden and stopped just before the tiny shed that sat in the farthest corner. Two flowerbeds flanked the back door of the house; they were filled with lavender and daisies. An old metal arch, covered in pale pink roses stretched above the path.
Inside, Tash grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before sitting down at the window seat. It was a pretty view, but tonight she barely paid attention to it. She wished that she had a bit more backbone…No, maybe that wasn’t quite right. She did have a good dose of ambition and determination when it came to business, but perhaps not so much in the personal department. The other night at dinner, she had let the circumstances dictate her actions—or lack of them—instead of the other way around. Rather than speaking out or doing something, she had sat there in silence.
Tash took a sip of water. If Bec had been confronted with the same situation, she would have told Freddy to shut up and there was a spare seat for Nick beside her. But Tash wasn’t Bec.
She knew that her upbringing had a lot to do with her lack of self-confidence, but it was time that she took some responsibility for her in-action. It had been difficult growing up between two influential women. It was true that her grandmother had been a force to be reckoned with but in a quieter way so had her mother, Anna. Tash’s mum could never stand up to her own mother, which made home life difficult at times. It was an odd dynamic and probably not the healthiest. Katerina Duroz was the matriarch of the family, she bound everyone together out of sheer will whether they liked it or not. And even though Tash never felt a lack of love, her grandmother needed to micromanage everyone under her roof and always have the last word. At times this could be difficult to live with but for Tash’s mum, it was unbearable. Anna was a disappointed woman in many ways and it showed. She had never wanted to stay in White Gum Creek and was frustrated that her one attempt to leave had ended disastrously. She’d been forced to return with a broken heart, shattered dreams and two small children. For Anna, nothing was right and men…well, they were the Devil incarnate—all tricksters, womanisers and liars. She was always quick to condemn the male of the species which was problematic when you were actually raising a son. Growing up, Tash often wondered how Alex coped with it. Her grandmother had been a domineering woman, which could be viewed as both a trial and a blessing. She always had a big personality, and perhaps that’s why Tash was quiet. She didn’t like attention, shied away from confrontation and just wanted to lead a peaceful and uncomplicated life.
She didn’t blame her grandmother…Well, not really. Katerina was the granddaughter of Russian emigrants who had settled in Australia in the early twentieth century. She met and married Tash’s grandfather, Alexander, who was also of Russian descent, although the Duroz family had already established themselves in White Gum Creek by then. The Gumnut Bakery was an essential part of the town long before Katerina and Alexander took over the running of his family business.
But Grandad had died young and left behind his grieving wife and small daughter. Determined to succeed, Katerina poured her life into the bakery. She was driven to keep the Duroz legacy intact and expected no less from the other members of the family. Day and night she worked, and so did Tash’s mum, Anna, as she grew up.
Her grandmother always said that baking was in their blood, and, for the most part, Tash thought it was true. The exception being her mum. Maybe it was because she had been forced into working from a very early age, but Anna soon grew sick of flour and yeast and the scent of cinnamon. When she was nineteen she had run away with a man passing through the town. He had a crooked smile and the ability to make Anna believe in love and happy-ever-afters. She soon found out that fairytales were just that—pretty stories that had no place in the real world. After four or so years, Anna returned home, bringing Tash and her new baby brother, Alex, with her. Tash and Alex kept Duroz as their surname. According to her grandmother it was a good name, one to be proud of. She never went as far as to add ‘Better than the one belonging to your deadbeat father,’ but Tash could always sense the words hanging in the air.
Tash would like to have said that growing up was hard, but it wasn’t. Sure, as she got older it was sometimes a juggle between school and her hours in the bakery, but she always managed. She never seemed to have much time to hang out with friends, but it wasn’t as if she was a prisoner of the bakery.
Sometimes she wondered about her dad—what he was like. But the thoughts didn’t linger long. He knew where his family was, he just never bothered to come looking for them, and as far as Tash was concerned, if he hadn’t sought her out in the past twenty-eight years, why should she spend another minute thinking about him?
Both Tash and Alex found comfort in the bakery. It was something solid that connected them with not only their family history of baking but also with each other. They had learned the secret art of bread and sticky rolls by their grandmother’s side. But while Tash and Alex grew to love the bakery, just as much as if it were part of them, their mother never did. The Gumnut was Anna’s prison and she detested every minute she had to spend there. Having tried to escape once and failing miserably, Anna became bitter with her lot. Tash would suggest that her mother should find something else that she could be passionate about. But her grandmother would never let Anna go or let her forget the debacle of when she’d run away.
Tash had always known that the bakery would be hers one day and she couldn’t think of a nicer way to spend her life than creating wonderful food that brought people together. She just wished that it could have worked for her own family. They still presented as a united front, of course, the Duroz family, but there was an ever-present undercurrent of bitterness and control that never disappeared until their grandmother died and their mother moved away.
Where some of her friends went to university after school, Tash never had the urge. Instead she enrolled in a small business course at the closest TAFE. Baking may have been the family’s life blood, but it didn’t mean she knew anything about running a business. If she wanted the bakery to not only be successful but enduring, she needed to have some financial savvy in her arsenal. Her mum hadn’t been pleased; she feared that both her children would end up being tied to the bakery just as she had been.
Alex was the same: he knew what he wanted to do. He clashed with their mum about leaving school early. She wanted him to explore his options and go to uni, just like she’d tried to persuade Tash to do. But Alex was adamant, and eventually they worked out a compromise. He’d finish Year Eleven and then do a Certificate III in Retail Baking.
It had been a tumultuous time when
Tash took over The Gumnut. Her grandmother had problems stepping aside and her mother just didn’t want to be there. Three generations with three very different visions of how the business should be run. Grandma looked to the past when everything was more glorious, but Tash knew if they were going to survive they would have to transform the way they ran the shop. To begin with the bakery needed sprucing up, it had always been neat as a pin but the decor hadn’t been updated in decades. She wanted a fresher look for The Gumnut without taking away what it was. Tash also believed that the place needed a couple of small tables and chairs, so people could have a place to sit and chat. Added to that, she wanted to buy a new dough mixer for the kitchen, as well as a coffee machine and revise and update their recipes with Alex’s help. To achieve this, Tash took out a small loan, much to her grandmother’s horror. Katerina Duroz believed that if you couldn’t afford something, then you just didn’t buy it.
Tash took another sip of water and looked out to her garden. Sometimes it was good just to sit in silence and look out at a peaceful, green world. She sighed as the old memories continued to wash over her. Her grandmother may have been a difficult woman, but it didn’t mean Tash didn’t love her. When she died suddenly, Tash had known she would be left the bakery, but she was surprised to discover the portfolio of properties her grandmother had acquired over her lifetime. Not only was there the original family home but several small cottages, including the one Tash now called home. Tash and her brother were bequeathed everything except the old family home, which had been left to Anna.
They were both disappointed when their mother sold it off as quickly as she could and left White Gum Creek. Tash had been torn. On one hand she was happy that her mother finally got to start a new life in Melbourne, but she was sad to see the old house lost.
But for Tash and Alex, it was a new beginning, one with an element of freedom and autonomy that neither of them had experienced before. For Tash, in particular, it was her chance to finally adapt the bakery and push it into the future.
White Gum Creek Page 5